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60
Republican rule their inability to manage
themselves and others. 13
Using these themes, Simmons
developed a strong anti- Republican, anti-black
stance for the Democratic Party. Like
previous platforms, the 1898 strategy
focused on accomplishments of the
Democrats when in power and preached the
pitfalls of black officeholding. But, the 1898
campaign also took new paths in planning
and preparation for the November elections.
Simmons made effective uses of manpower
through better party organization and control
of county Democratic Party committees.
County committee chairs received weekly
correspondence from the state headquarters
plus quantities of posters and circulars—
some two million documents statewide
throughout the campaign. 14 Simmons’
successful 1892 campaign was the
organizational framework for the 1898
campaign, as he united business interests
and citizen voters using claims of corruption
by “ Republican- Negro rule.” 15
By uniting various entities that
traditionally supported the Democratic
Party, Simmons achieved victory. To fund
his programs, Simmons quietly called on
13 Democratic Handbook, 38.
14 C. Beauregard Poland, North Carolina’s Glorious
Victory, 1898 ( Raleigh, N. C., 1899), 4.
15Rippy, Statesman of the New South, 19, 22- 23.
businessmen throughout the state and
promised that the Democrats would not raise
business taxes if his candidates were
elected. 16 Josephus Daniels, a hearty
supporter of the Democratic Party’s white
supremacy platform, recalled that Simmons
was “ a genius in putting everybody to
work— men who could write, men who
could speak, and men who could ride— the
last by no means the least important.” 17
Thus, victory was to be achieved through the
unification of newspapers, traveling
campaign speakers, and violent bands of
men behind a singular argument— white
supremacy.
Wilmington’s position as the state’s
largest city governed by Populists and
Republicans who were bolstered by a large
black voting majority made it a perfect test
case for Simmons’ propaganda program.
His print and speech program focused on the
city with claims that it was under “ negro
domination.” Articles from the city’s pro-
Democratic Party papers regarding local
leaders were picked up and expounded upon
by the News and Observer and the Charlotte
Observer to demonstrate to the rest of the
state the perils of non- Democratic Party
leadership. To fuel the argument for the
redemption of Wilmington, the News and
Observer sent a correspondent to the city
regularly to generate more fodder for the
white supremacy fever. 18 Some
Wilmingtonians prided themselves that the
Democratic Party’s star speechmaker,
Charles Aycock’s, proclaimed that the city
was “ the center of the white supremacy
movement.” After hearing speeches at a
party rally in Goldsboro in October,
Furnifold
Simmons
Image: North Carolina
Collection, University
of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
16 Crow, Maverick Republican, 125.
17 Daniels, Editor in Politics, 284.
18 McDuffie, “ Politics in Wilmington,” 583; Daniels,
Editor in Politics, 283- 312.

60
Republican rule their inability to manage
themselves and others. 13
Using these themes, Simmons
developed a strong anti- Republican, anti-black
stance for the Democratic Party. Like
previous platforms, the 1898 strategy
focused on accomplishments of the
Democrats when in power and preached the
pitfalls of black officeholding. But, the 1898
campaign also took new paths in planning
and preparation for the November elections.
Simmons made effective uses of manpower
through better party organization and control
of county Democratic Party committees.
County committee chairs received weekly
correspondence from the state headquarters
plus quantities of posters and circulars—
some two million documents statewide
throughout the campaign. 14 Simmons’
successful 1892 campaign was the
organizational framework for the 1898
campaign, as he united business interests
and citizen voters using claims of corruption
by “ Republican- Negro rule.” 15
By uniting various entities that
traditionally supported the Democratic
Party, Simmons achieved victory. To fund
his programs, Simmons quietly called on
13 Democratic Handbook, 38.
14 C. Beauregard Poland, North Carolina’s Glorious
Victory, 1898 ( Raleigh, N. C., 1899), 4.
15Rippy, Statesman of the New South, 19, 22- 23.
businessmen throughout the state and
promised that the Democrats would not raise
business taxes if his candidates were
elected. 16 Josephus Daniels, a hearty
supporter of the Democratic Party’s white
supremacy platform, recalled that Simmons
was “ a genius in putting everybody to
work— men who could write, men who
could speak, and men who could ride— the
last by no means the least important.” 17
Thus, victory was to be achieved through the
unification of newspapers, traveling
campaign speakers, and violent bands of
men behind a singular argument— white
supremacy.
Wilmington’s position as the state’s
largest city governed by Populists and
Republicans who were bolstered by a large
black voting majority made it a perfect test
case for Simmons’ propaganda program.
His print and speech program focused on the
city with claims that it was under “ negro
domination.” Articles from the city’s pro-
Democratic Party papers regarding local
leaders were picked up and expounded upon
by the News and Observer and the Charlotte
Observer to demonstrate to the rest of the
state the perils of non- Democratic Party
leadership. To fuel the argument for the
redemption of Wilmington, the News and
Observer sent a correspondent to the city
regularly to generate more fodder for the
white supremacy fever. 18 Some
Wilmingtonians prided themselves that the
Democratic Party’s star speechmaker,
Charles Aycock’s, proclaimed that the city
was “ the center of the white supremacy
movement.” After hearing speeches at a
party rally in Goldsboro in October,
Furnifold
Simmons
Image: North Carolina
Collection, University
of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
16 Crow, Maverick Republican, 125.
17 Daniels, Editor in Politics, 284.
18 McDuffie, “ Politics in Wilmington,” 583; Daniels,
Editor in Politics, 283- 312.